A Mother's Love
by Chiromancer
Summary: A mother's love for a daughter goes wrong.....
1. Chapter 1

_Allison has a dream about her daughter Ariel….10 yrs into the future. Ariel is 25 yrs old in her dream and is trying on wedding dresses. Allison is smiling in her dream until she sees the girl with the gun. She moves quickly to protect Ariel from the pointed gun but fails. Ariel falls to the floor. Allison wakes up…………………_

Allison starts her morning as usual making breakfast for the girls. She can't shake that dream from her mind. Ariel, Bridget and Marie are all having breakfast. Joe has just poured some cereal for Marie when the phone rings.

"You take it. It's probably the office anyway" says Joe.

Allison picks up the phone and find detective Scanlon on the other end.

"Can you come down to a crime scene immediately, Allison?"

Allison turns to her husband who knows the routine all too well and nods. "I'll take the kids to school," he says.

"Ok, says Allison. I'll be there. Give me an address. Ok, about 30 minutes. Bye"

She goes over to Joe and gives him a big kiss. "I love you" she says.

The kids are saying there hurried good byes to her as she's getting her purse, cell phone and car keys.

"Mom, can I have a friend over for supper tonight?" asks Ariel

Allison has no time for this today so she suggests her daughter speak to her father and let him decide. She rushes out the door.

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Allison head to the downtown area….1036 Central Avenue, to be exact. She is greeted by a police officer checking her ID and directing her to the location of detective Scanlon. Lee was in the back room of the small bookstore. He saw Allison enter and got up from the crouched position he had taken over the deceased.

"I wanted you to get a feel for the scene before the medical examiner takes the body. The female is Siobhan Mullany, age 36. She was shot in the back. She was an early morning customer apparently just looking at the books when another female walk up to her and shot her. There were two witnesses, the clerk and another female customer. We are getting statements and hopefully a sketch."

"Are there any surveillance cameras in this store?"

"None. The clerk said they never had trouble here before so they just never thought this would be needed. I'll go out front to see what kind of description we have and let you work".

As Scanlon left, Allison moved around the various book shelves taking in the situation. The body had been covered with a white cloth. It was now blood stained.

She hated looking at dead bodies, but she needed to take a look at this victim just the same. She lifted the cloth and saw a very young looking 36 yr old with beautiful auburn hair. Her features were exquisite. A bullet went through her back and pierced her front.

Allison recovered the victim and proceeded around the store. Her gaze settled on a large mirror on the far side of the room. The display had a variety of children's book including "Alice in Wonderland's Through the Looking Glass". She was mesmerized by the mirror and found herself staring intently.

_The victim Siobhan Mullany was staring back at her, except in this mirror she was alive. She was trying to utter some words but only her lips were moving. Siobhan looked frightened and suddenly turned away and was gone. _

Allison was still focused on the mirror as Scanlon came in and nudge her back to reality.

"Are you ok Allison?"

"Yes….I think so."

Allison followed Scanlon out of the shop.

"Let's go back to headquarters so we can interview the witnesses. I need to see if you get any feel from them".

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The interview room was small with the one mandatory table, 3 chairs and the two way mirror. Allison found herself sitting next to Scanlon and across the table from the store clerk, Anabelle Cross. Ms. Cross, a very nicely dressed woman in her 70's looked very nervous and tired.

"Ms. Cross, can you tell us what happened?" asked Scanlon.

"I was sitting at my front desk ordering some books online when a customer came in, or I thought she was a customer. She never made any eye contact with me and did not reply to my good morning. I saw her move to the back of the store and maybe a minute later I heard a shot. I got up from my chair and she ran passed my desk holding a gun in her right hand. I ran to the back of the store and saw the body on the floor and my other customer just standing there in shock. I called 911."

Allison listened intently to Ms. Cross and found no deceit in her voice. She was telling the truth as far as she could tell.

Scanlon shot a look to Allison. Allison had nothing to say at that moment.

"Can you give me a description of the women?"

"Well, she was in her 40's, thin, with dark hair. She had some sweatpants and a tee shirt…dark color."

After a few more questions Scanlon thanked Mr. Cross and escorted her to the door.

"So Allison, what do you think"?

"She was being truthful as far as I can tell, nothing stands out".

"Ok, let's talk to our next witness."

He moved back to the door and motioned for the next witness to be sent in.

Katrina Dugger, a woman age 34 was neatly dressed. She looked like she worked in an upscale office. Her appearance suited for the many law firms of the area, or at least that's what Allison felt.

"Ms. Dugger, can you tell me what happened?"

"I was on my way to work and decided to stop in. I'm looking for the new Steven King book, The Cell, for a friend. I had just entered the book store and found the fiction section. I was checking out the book when I heard a shot. I moved to the back of the store and saw the body and the woman holding the gun. She had a huge smile on her face and said, "I'll see you in my dreams". She never saw me. She turned and walked out very fast."

"What did she look like?" quizzed Scanlon.

"Well, she was tall, dark hair and thin. She looked like she was dressed to go jogging. There wasn't anything remarkable about her. I'm sorry".

_Allison was spirited away in her mind and looking at a very young mother holding her child. The mother was crying. She had bundled the child in a blanket and she was quickly moving to the side of the huge building. She couldn't tell what kind of building it was. A door was opened and the child was placed inside. The door was closed. The mother vanished from site._

Allison stayed sitting in her chair as Scanlon escorted this witness out as well. He returned with a very puzzled look on his face.

"You've been quiet. You never asked one question. What's up?"

Allison was trying to make sense of the last witness.

"I don't know what it is exactly, but I know something is wrong. I just can't put my finger on it".

Allison stood ready to say goodbye to Scanlon, telling him she needed to see DA Devalos.

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He saw her enter the office. "Allison, how was the interview?"

"I think our second witness has a role in this shooting, somehow."

"What makes you say that?"

"When she was talking I had a vision. Can you find out more about Ms. Dugger?"

"We usually don't check out the witnesses unless we think they committed a crime, but I'll see what detective Scanlon can discretely do?"

"I'll see you tomorrow early. I need to go pick up the kids from school".


	2. Chapter 2

Allison drove to pick up the girls. She found she was a few minutes late with the girls awaiting her in the usual spot. Bridget quickly opened the door and jumped in the front seat.

"I have the front", she called out to Ariel who was following her.

"Mom, I'm the oldest and I should be in the front seat", shoots Ariel.

"Now girls, stop screaming. Bridget gets the front today and Ariel tomorrow."

As they are approaching the house Ariel explains to her mother that her friend Jill will be coming over for supper. Jill is a new girl in school and a year older than Ariel. She is very shy and having trouble blending in.

"She's a very nice girl but she seems very sad. I'm hoping she can make friends so she can forget her past."

Allison noticed how mature her 15yr old sounded with that statement. She is all too aware that Ariel has had moments of clairvoyance.

"I'm sure she will be fine with time. It's an awful adjustment to move especially when you're a teenager. She had to leave all her friends."

"I don't think she had any friends in New York."

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Jill Mortenson arrived at promptly 6pm for supper. She was indeed a very shy girl. She never made eye contact once as she said hello to Allison and Joe. She followed Ariel to her room and Allison felt…………

"_Mommy, where are you? Who are you? Why did you leave me?" _

These three questions came flooding into her mind repeating themselves endlessly until she heard …..

"Allison, the pasta is burning. Give me a hand here." It was Joe trying to get her back to reality. She ran to the kitchen while trying to put the questions out of her mind…for now.

Supper was rather uneventful. Jill ate quietly and only answered the questions directly asked. She came from NY, 16 yrs old and she moved to Arizona when her father's job transferred him to another bank branch. Her mother is a nurse.

Jill was picked up by 8pm by her mother who tooted and waited in the car.

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Allison's night was full of nightmares. She woke Joe up a few times with her yelling, jumping and crying.

_The child is bundled up nicely. The door is opened and the child gently put inside. The mother rushes out just as a woman dressed in white enters the hall. She sees the bundle and gently looks inside. She sees the child. She carries the baby down the hallway. _

Allison awakes feeling like she just lost a child. She gets out of bed and checks out Ariel's room as well as Bridget and Marie's room. All is well the girls are all fast asleep. She goes back to bed but she can't fall asleep. She doesn't dare.

The next morning Allison arrives in DA Devalos's office by 9am. She finds him on the phone. He motions for her to come in and wait while he finishes his conversation and hangs up.

"Detective Scanlon just told me he's been asking questions about Katrina Duggar. Apparently Ms. Dugger works as a paralegal here in town. She's single, never been married and no children. Her employer commends her work ethics and says she has nothing to hide. I don't know what more we can find out about her?"

Allison felt like her senses were deceiving her. She was so sure the witness had something to hide. Now she wasn't so sure.

"What do you have on the victim? Any ideas why someone would want to kill her?"

"Ms. Mullany worked in Real Estate. She was recently divorced, never had children. Her Ex-husband has been notified. We don't know if her parents are still alive. We hope he can provide us some information. We have no leads on the shooter but we will have a sketch by noon."

"Can I check out the file until your sketch is ready?"

"Sure, Allison…gives her the file sitting in front of him. I hope you can pick up something."

Allison sat in an empty conference room and laid out the various pictures of the victim, the many notes handwritten by detectives and typed by the office staff. Siobhan Mullany was loved by everyone who was interviewed at her work. She was a great agent but she wasn't pushy.

Then Allison read the coroners report.

"Allison, here's the sketch."

It was Scanlon half in the conference room holding the sketch in one hand.

Allison took the sketch from him and took a long look.

_The room was damp and dark. The college girl (her sweater giving her away) was covered in soot. She was breathing hard. She was screaming. The baby was crying. She had given birth, alone, in this place of damp, darkness, rats scurrying all about. She was crying…….._

"Allison, are you ok."

"Thanks, she said. If you need me I'll be in here most of the afternoon."

She proceeded to read every piece of paper in that file while occasionally checking out the sketch. She wanted to speak with Katrina Dugger again. She quickly put the file together and headed out the door.

Scanlon was in the hallway when she told him she needed another conversation with Ms. Dugger.

"Ok, he said. I'll try to arrange that for tomorrow. It's late, so why don't you go home for today?"

Good idea she thought. She left the file with him but put the sketch in her purse.


	3. Chapter 3

Allison arrived home after 5pm which meant Joe would have already picked up the girls. The family was in the kitchen making pizza for supper.

"We are having pizza tonight I see. I love it. I don't have to cook."

The girls seemed really excited about making pizza but took the time to give their mother a kiss. Bridget made sure both her flour covered hands held her mothers face tightly.

"I guess I should wash up before supper….especially those hand prints."

Bridget just laughed.

"How was your day today", shouted Joe as Allison walked to the bathroom.

"This case is really driving me nuts I know I'm missing something." She hadn't been in the bathroom long when ……………

_Siobhan Mullany was looking back at her from the bathroom mirror. She was trying to speak to her again. Her lips were moving, no sound. What Allison would have given to be a lip reader! "What do you want me to do? I can't hear you."_

Then she heard Joe come in. "Pizza's ready. What are you waiting for?"

She hadn't realized that she had been in the bathroom for 30 minutes. The food was cooked and on the table. She sat down with the family. She couldn't keep the bathroom incident out of her mind when she heard Ariel say…………….

"_Why don't you just take her hand?"_

Joe and the other girls just looked at her strangely.

"What are you talking about?" asked Joe.

Ariel looked puzzled as well. I don't really know. It just popped into my head.

Allison understood immediately what her daughter meant. Siobhan's wanted her to take her hand. Allison quickly left the table looking for her cell phone. She called detective Scanlon and asked if he could meet her at the morgue immediately. He agreed without questions.

After explaining to Joe she just needed to check on something she ran out the door.

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Scanlon was at the morgue when she arrived. He was speaking with the attendant. They both saw Allison come in and motioned to her to come to the last table.

"What is this all about, Allison" asked Scanlon.

"I need to touch the body. Can I do that?"

"Sure", said the attendant. "We have already examined the body completely, you can touch her".

The attendant pulled off the sheet and Allison took hold of Siobhan's right hand.

_Siobhan was standing in the bookstore looking at a cookbook. Allison was standing on her right side. She could see the clerk working on her computer. Siobhan moved to the back of the store and Allison followed. Allison was checking out the situation when she felt another presence. The shooter….._

_The woman entered and walked to the rear of the bookstore. The witness, Katrina Dugger, was in view for a moment but quickly moved to another set of shelves. The shooter lifted her hand pointing the handgun to Siobhan's chest and said; "She's mine, you can't have her now" and she pulled the trigger. Siobhan only had time to say, "Who are you?" and she fell dead._

_The shooter quickly walked out. The store witnesses moved in on the body and looked hysterical. _

Allison let go of her hand. Siobhan had given her enough information. She was not the intended victim of this crime. She was in the wrong place at the wrong time. The shooter killed the wrong person.

Allison left the morgue with Scanlon.

"I need to have both witnesses come back in. Can you arrange that?"

Scanlon did not ask too many questions. "I'll do that first thing in the morning. Go home and get some sleep."

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Home was quiet. Bridget and Marie were both in bed. Ariel was reading a book in the living room. She needed to speak with her mother. She was holding the sketch that had fallen out of Allison's purse.

"I found this picture on the floor. The person looks familiar. I think she could be Jill's mother, Amanda Mortenson."

Allison was floored. She needed to meet Amanda for herself and found out that Jill is picked up by her mother after school on Tuesday's and Thursday's. Tomorrow was Thursday and she would be there.

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	4. Chapter 4

The following morning Allison took her daughters to school hoping to see Amanda bringing her daughter in, no such luck. She drove to work to find Scanlon had already contacted both witnesses. Katrina Dugger was not willing to come back in for another interview. She couldn't take the time off. Allison drove to Chase, Young, and Pearson Associates, Katrina's place of work.

She noticed Katrina getting out of her car as she pulled in. She quickly caught up to her at the end of the parking lot.

"Katrina, I'm Allison DuBois, I hope you remember me from the other day."

"Yes, Sorry I don't have the time for another chat. I have too much work."

Allison needed to get her attention.

"Katrina, I know you were the intended target of the shooter. When she realizes she made a mistake she will come after you."

That got her attention. Katrina stood frozen in place looking at Allison.

"You are mistaken. I don't even know shooter. Excuse me"

She proceeded to walk off but Allison was close enough to put a hand on her shoulder hoping to slow her down………..then………………

_The college student who gave birth was in her dorm room. She was crying and trying to get some dried blood off some clothing. The door opens and another young girl comes in._

"_Katrina, what's wrong?"_

_The girl is caught off guard. She tried to contain herself._

"_I thought you were gone."_

"_Nope, but I'm leaving in a few minutes, though. What happened?"_

"_Oh, I tripped over the concrete steps at the library."_

Allison's hand was pulled off of Katrina's shoulder.

"Leave me alone."

Katrina moved away from Allison and quickly went inside the complex. Allison picked up her cell and proceeded to call Scanlon.

"Can you get more information of Katrina Dugger?"

Scanlon learnt a long time ago not to doubt Allison's senses. He simply said he would see what he could do and hung up.

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Allison was driving to pick up the girls. She was still thinking of the case when she arrived in front of the school. Ariel opened the passenger door and moved besides her mother.

"Jill's mom is the one in the blue care over there."

Allison turned off her car and moved towards the blue care with Ariel running to catch up. Jill had just gotten in the passenger seat when she arrived. Allison was at the drives side and realized her daughter was absolutely right. She was a dead ringer for the person in the sketch.

"Excuse me, Mrs. Mortenson, my name is Allison DuBois, Ariel's mom. I just wanted to say hi in person and invite you to a barbecue tonight."

"Call me Amanda. Sorry, we just can't tonight. Can we have a rain check?"

"Sure, no problem, anytime."

Allison offered her hand…..but Amanda had no intention of shaking hands with her. She didn't want to touch her. Allison could feel Amanda's mind in hers……………

"_You're not going to get me that easily. She was saying. I know about you."_

Amanda quickly rolled up the window and sped away. Allison ran to her car grabbing her cell phone and calling Scanlon as fast as she could. Bridget looked confused and was trying to get her mothers attention.

"I know who the shooter is, she told him".

She proceeded to quickly tell him about Amanda and that he needed to find her and take her in for questions. Ariel gave her mother Jill's home address. She hung up. She needed to get the girls home first.

Ariel looked very concerned.

"Are you sure the person you are looking for is Jill's mom?"

Allison didn't know what to tell her daughter. Yes, she was sure. She was also sure Amanda Mortenson was very aware of her "gift". Allison had never met another person so mentally strong. She tried to calm her daughter's fears.

"I need to drop you and Bridget off and leave. Can you take care of things till your father gets home? It's only going to be about an hour. Marie can stay at the day care till your father can pick her up."

Ariel just nodded and remained quiet for the trip home. Bridget was bombarding her mother with questions. Allison really didn't hear her.

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After dropping off the girls Allison was moving towards the Mortenson home. She was about a block away when she heard the sirens and was passed by an ambulance. She just knew where they were going and feared the worse.

The front was full of fire trucks, police cars, and medical personnel. The home was engulfed. She found Scanlon and DA Davalos behind a police car.

"Is there anyone inside?"

"We don't know yet. The neighbors called this fire in."

Allison instantly knew Amanda had set the fire. Amanda's little trip in Allison's mind gave her a much easier time feeling Amanda's thoughts. I'm sure Amanda never really considered this happening.

_Amanda was walking to Katrina's car. She looked around and settled on a bunch of trees and bushes. She was huddled behind the largest tree jus a few yards away from the car. She was holding a gun._

"Katrina Dugger is in danger. We need to call her and tell her to stay in her office until an officer gets there."

They both looked at her in disbelief.

"What are you talking about?"

Allison tried to provide a quick review of what she envisioned which seemed to be enough for the two men. They started for the car with two more police cars in pursuit.

They arrived at the office complex in less than 6 minutes, but it was already too late. Katrina was lying near her car door and Amanda was still clearly in sight (at least to Allison). She was removing the windbreaker and cap and quickly walking away. She heard the sirens and ran between some buildings.

Allison yelled after her. Scanlon and a few officers started running in her direction. They disappeared behind some buildings. Allison heard the shot.

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	5. Chapter 5

Scanlon finally appeared.

"We have her. I need a medic. She wouldn't stop. She turned around and fired at us. I caught her in the right shoulder."

The ambulance must have been called by an officer witnessing the shooting for it arrived in a few minutes. The DA was speaking with Scanlon when Amanda was wheeled out to the ambulance. She looked at Allison who was moving towards her.

"Why did you shoot her?" she asked Amanda.

"I wasn't going to have her take Jill away from me. I saw her in the hospital a few weeks ago and recognized her. She didn't know me. While we were doing her medical history she mentioned she could not have any more children. She had given a child up for adoption and was searching for her now. She wanted to be a mother………….I have dreams………..I know she would have taken her away from me in time……..You're the only one here that understands me…..you have the dreams too….I can tell. I'm Jill's mother and I have been since this "creature" left her at the clinic.

I saw her a few more times and knew where she worked. I went to find her and saw her walking inside the bookstore. I only saw her bank and didn't realize that I had the wrong person; they looked so much alike…both had the same auburn hair, same length and they were both wearing a dark color business suit. I shot the wrong person.

The Attendants put her in the ambulance…Scanlon went along also. She was in custody now.

Allison's concern was with finding Jill. How were they going to prepare her for this news?

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At the office, Allison met with the DA and discovered that Jill was nowhere to be found. She had vanished…for the moment.

"As it turn out there was no Mr. Mortenson, revealed the DA. Amanda was never married. She moved here for a now opportunity for her daughter. The house has been completely destroyed. There were no bodies found. We are going to speak with Amanda and keep digging into her past to see if she has any relatives or friends that may have taken the girl in. It does look like they moved a lot and never made permanent friends. We can't do any more now….go home Allison."

Allison took his advice and went home. It was after 8pm but Ariel was still waiting up. She looked worried.

"Did you find Jill and her mom? What happened?"

Allison told her about the events. Ariel needed to know the truth and she needed to know that Jill had disappeared.

"I'm so sorry honey. We may never know where she is."

"I'll see her again, said Ariel, and I will be ready for her. It won't be like in the dream."

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